The Maze Runner (2014)

Lord of the Flies with a cardio requirement: that’s The Maze Runner, and the reason anybody built a giant stone puzzle for teenagers never quite makes sense. The rules of the Glade fall apart the second you think about them, and the movie hopes you’ll be too busy running to notice. Mostly, you are. Dylan O’Brien sprints through those corridors like his phone’s about to die, and Will Poulter’s Gally is the best kind of annoying, the guy who’s wrong for understandable reasons. Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s Newt is calm enough to run a small country. The walls grinding shut at sundown is a great image, and the Grievers are nasty enough that the deadline actually matters. Then the ending slams the brakes to sell you the next movie. It made $348.3 million worldwide on a reported $34 million. A 5.6 because the setup is a tight mystery and the payoff is a cliffhanger with a sales pitch attached. $42.43 says you sprint for a closing elevator door this week and think about the Glade.

What works: A strong mystery setup, Dylan O’Brien’s committed sprinting, and those shifting stone walls.

What doesn’t: The maze’s rules don’t hold up to much thought, and the ending exists mostly to sell the next movie.

Who it’s for: Teens and grown-ups who like their dystopias fast, simple and full of running.